Module 4
Activities
Developing the competencies of a social facilitator
List of activities:
→ (K) What my role is and what it is NOT (Disc) - 1 hour
→ (K) Is it knowledge, a hard skill or a soft skill? (Ind) - 30 minutes
→ (K) Assessing your knowledge, hard skills and soft skills. – 30 minutes
→ (K) Sociology of your area (Disc) – 1 hour
→ (K) National and International Law on disability (Disc) – 1 hour
→ (K) Social Capital and Informal Support Systems (Disc) – 1 hour
→ (H) Working with Children (Disc/Sim) – 1.5 hours
→ (H) Conflict management (Disc) – 1 hour
→ (H) Making referrals and follow-up (Disc) – 30 minutes
→ (H) Evaluating your work (Ind) – 30 minutes
→ (S) Making decisions (Sim) – 1 hour
→ (S) Abilities-focused approach (Disc) – 1 hour
→ (S) Professionalism and ethics (Disc) – 1 hour
→ (S) Leadership and taking initiative (Ind) – 30 minutes
→ (S) Emotional awareness (Ind) – 30 minutes
→ (S) Empathy not sympathy (Disc/Sim) – 1 hour
→ (S) Bad non-verbal Communication (Sim) – 30 minutes
→ (S) Communicating to a group (Sim) – 30 minutes
→ (S) How we see each other? Assumptions and stereotypes (Disc) – 2 hours
→ (S) Challenging your personal judgments (Disc) – 30 minutes
→ (S) How to work with families (Sim) – 30 minutes
Interactive lectures (ILec)– e.g. power point, guest speakers
Learning games (Game)
Discussion (Disc) – e.g. brainstorming, class discussion, roundtable, small group with report back, case story, pairing,
Individual reflection (Ind)– worksheets, surveys
Simulation (Sim) - Role playing, real-life scenario, panel
Learning by doing (Do)– projects, field visits,
(K) What my role is and what it is NOT (Disc)
Time required: 1 hour
Learning objectives: To be able to recognize one’s role as a social facilitator and also the limits of one’s role and what one is not to do.
Materials: Paper, pen
Method:
1. First, each social facilitator will get 10 minutes to do an individual brainstorm of their understanding of what their role is and what it is not. They can fill the simple table below. It may help them to think of when they’ve been asked to do things that our outside their role and may not have felt comfortable or confident enough to not do it. This exercise is to clarify these limits, it may vary from context to context, based on the specific job description of a social facilitator.
What is my ROLE of Social Facilitator / What is NOT my role as social facilitatorAlso, have participants answer the following 2 questions:
a. How do you respond when others ask you to do things that are not your role?
b. What is difficult about telling people that you cannot do something?
2. Participants then form groups of 4 people, where they share and discuss their common understanding of their role, and write the most popular answers down on a poster.
3. Have a group reporting and discuss what is within and outside someone’s role.
The trainer can also add the following answers:
What is my ROLE of Social Facilitator / What is NOT my role as social facilitator· Help people and communities identify social issues and solutions themselves
· Link people/groups to the community and help them speak for themselves
· Understanding people’s different situations and family dynamics and helping the family and individuals reach positive goals.
· Provide information on services, rights and the social situation.
*Essentially, you have a supportive not leading role in enabling social change. / · To identify someone’s problems yourself and give them advice on what to do.
· Represent people and groups and speak on their behalf towards services
· Disagree with a family about how they are treating members with a disability and telling them what to do.
· Giving extensive counseling or advice to others on what they need to do.
a. How do you respond when others ask you to do things that are not your role?
- May not respond and do the task, if not clear on limits of goal
- May try to find the right person to do the task and refer to them
- May explain to the person that it is not your role, but there is no one else to do it, so it does not get done.
b. What is difficult about telling people that you cannot do something?
- They may think you are lazy or uncooperative, and you may feel bad not to do it.
- They may have no one else to help them, or not know who to go to.
- You may feel helpless and wishing you could do more for them.
(K) Is it knowledge, a hard skill or a soft skill? (Ind)
Time required: 30 minutes
Learning objectives: To learn to distinguish between the different kinds of competencies to develop and to value all equally as important parts of a job.
Materials: Paper, pen
Method:
- Below is a list of different competencies, to be given as a handout to participants (but remember to remove the answers - letters at end of each competency). Ask trainees to circle if the area is: K (knowledge area), H (a hard skill), or S (a soft skill).
K / H / S Adaptable, flexible (S)
K / H / S Planning and implementing ideas (H)
K / H / S Understanding how humans think and behave(K)
K / H / S Manage emotions and stress (S)
K / H / S Networking (H)
K / H / S Representing the community in various forums (H)
K / H / S Understanding of particular target groups: e.g. experience of persons with disabilities, children, ways to best support (K)
K / H / S Understanding stakeholders at local, regional and national level (K)
K / H / S Identifying inequalities and social obstacles (H)
K / H / S Active listening, with a will to understand (S)
K / H / S Managing conflicts and problems - problem-solving skills (H)
K / H / S Enabling attitude, inspirational/motivational (S)
K / H / S Coordinate and work as a team on a shared project (H)
K / H / S Trustworthy and responsibility (S)
K / H / S Making referrals to services/people (H)
K / H / S Empathetic, not sympathetic (S)
K / H / S Conducting individual and group interviews, speaking with children (H)
K / H / S Familiar with history, cultures, traditions (K)
K / H / S Decision-making ability (S)
K / H / S Setting up and leading meetings and ensuring things move forward (H)
K / H / S Familiar with national and international laws, adapted to the target group (e.g. people with disabilities). (K)
2. Ask participants to discuss for 10 minutes what they feel they are each more competent in: social work knowledge, hard skills or soft skills?
(K) Assessing your knowledge, hard skills and soft skills (Ind)
Time required: 30 minutes
Learning objectives: To learn how to assess our own competencies and make a plan for professional development.
Materials: Paper, pen
Method:
1. The participants have to fill out the below self-assessment on different types of knowledge, hard skills and soft skills; to take the lowest scoring knowledge, hard skill and soft skill area and then develop a plan for how to develop themselves in that area. (see sample below) Afterwards participants are invited to share in pairs.
I have good knowledge on…
Yes, do well / Sometimes do / Needs improvementPsychology and sociology: how humans think and behave, relationships between people and social groups
Anthropology of country/area: history, cultures, traditions
Understanding of particular target groups: e.g. experience of persons with disabilities, children, ways to best support
Support systems and care-management for area
Stakeholders at local, regional and national level
National and international laws, adapted to the target group (e.g. people with disabilities).
I know how to…
Yes, do well / Sometimes do / Needs improvementIdentify inequalities and social obstacles
Plan and implement ideas
Communicate with others, including children
Manage conflicts and problems - problem-solve skills
Network
Set up and lead meetings and ensure things move forward
Represent the community in various forums
Coordinate and work as a team on a shared project
Make referrals to services/people
Conduct individual and group interviews, speaking with children
Observe situations and making social diagnosis along with a person or group
Choose an intervention methods e.g. a personal or group support project
Coach individuals and groups to develop themselves
In my work, I am….
Yes, do well / Sometimes do / Needs improvementA good decision maker
See the potential of each, abilities-focused
Manage my emotions and stress
Use an enabling attitude, am inspirational/ motivational
Am tolerant, accepting and respectful of differences
Listen actively and have a will to understand
Learning/growing attitude
Empathetic, not sympathetic
Discreet
Confident, good self-esteem
Adaptable, flexible
Trustworthy and responsibility
Here is an example of a plan to facilitate development in some areas:
Area of improvement / How / When / Who can helpKnowledge on local beliefs on employing someone with a disability / Speak to local experienced PWD, speak to local employers on opinion, / In the next month / Contacts at the local vocational training centre, at the local bank, post office.
Advocacy skills to encourage vocational training centres to be more inclusive / Ask peers/mentor about advocacy methods/ timing/approach they have used and successes experienced / In the next month / Other peers/mentors who’ve advocated to vocational centres in their areas. Leaders with disabilities.
Using an enabling attitude to encourage a person to apply to a vocational training centre themselves / Watching peers/seniors use an enabling attitude, learning about what it means/benefits. Practicing it in small situations. / Next 2 months. / Peers/mentors who use an enabling approach. Observing them or asking them questions and having them observe you.
HANDOUT (to be given to participants for them to complete based on their self-assessment):
Area of improvement / How / When / Who can helpKnowledge
Hard skill
Soft skill
(K) Sociology of your area (Disc)
Time required: 1 hour
Learning objectives: To examine closely the local social structure, interactions and power divisions that exist, and what this may mean for the different types of people social facilitator’s work with.
Materials: Paper, pen
Method:
1. The trainer asks members of the group to pair up. Each pair will be assigned one of the questions below (can have more than 1 pair answering the same question) and get 15 minutes to answer the question using 2 to 3 local examples that support their case. The examples should be detailed and explained. The pairs will then be asked to share with the whole group.
2. The larger group can then agree or disagree based on their experiences, and there can be an open discussion after each pair shares.
3. The trainer takes notes of comments and summarizes findings at the end.
a. Historically, how do smaller groups resist domination and oppression from the larger groups?
b. What are the differences between men and women? In work, education, or decision-making in your community?
c. How are local healers perceived by the community? How much power do they have?
d. How do different social groups/classes interact with each other?
e. How is work and labour divided in the society? Are people compensated fairly?
f. How are resources and services distributed in the society?
g. What is changing and what is staying the same in society?
h. What is acceptable and unacceptable in society? What happens when someone has unacceptable behavior/thinking?
i. How much power do women and children have in the community?
The point of this exercise is not to come up with solutions; the exercise will surely identify many social inequalities. The point of this exercise is to understand a society and how it behaves, so one can start to figure out how to work within it.
(K) National and International Law on disability (Disc)
Time required: 1 hour
Learning objectives: To understand the national and international laws that support disability and what their local impact may be.
Materials: Paper, pen
Method:
1. Divide participants in groups of 3, together they will work to list:
a. As many national laws on social welfare and disability that they know about.
b. Knowledge on UNCRPD and the national status (signing, ratification, implementation) and use of the convention.
c. Examples of the national laws being used to benefit people with disabilities, or examples where the laws have failed and are not respected.
Advocacy tactics related to national laws/policies will be discussed in another exercise/module, the focus of this exercise is to understand what exists and does not exist in terms of disability laws and later to develop a plan for how these laws can be used.
The trainer can write the below areas on a flipchart to help participants think of what kind of laws may exist:
· Education policy for persons with disabilities, such as:
- free education for elementary school level children
- minimum standard of education all PWD should get
- budget for special education teachers in mainstream schools
- budget for assistive devices/learning equipment for PWD in schools
- scholarships for PWD at university level
- inclusive vocational training policy
· Economic policy for persons with disabilities, such as:
- % of government positions occupied by PWD
- incentives, awards, tax exemptions for vocational centres including PWD
- incentives, awards, tax exemptions for PWD who are self-employed.
· Policy for women with disabilities, such as:
- Programs/homes to support abandoned women/girls with disabilities
- Financial support to help women with disabilities hire a bit of help to look after children.